Pressing machine and maintaining means



June 9, 1936,

G. w. JOHNSON PRESSING MACHINE AND MAINTAINING MEANS Filed July 18, 1954NVENTOR GEORGE W JOHNSON Patented June 9, 1 936 [TE-D STATE-S PATENTOFFICE PRESSING MACHINE AND MAINTAINING MEANS Application July 18, 1934,Serial No. 735,801

7 Claims.

This invention relates :to apressing machine of the type used in laundryand garment work and more particularly to atmachine in which thepressing members have -a marked degree of curvature. That is to say, theinventionis addressed to the performing of pressing operations in twodirections simultaneously for the purpose of pressing or ironingarticles, such as mens shirts wherein portions of the pressing memberscoact to iron the frontor back ofthe shirt,whi1e other portions ofthepressing members cooperate to ironcertain of theside portions of theshirt.

An object of this invention is to provide in a machine of the generaltype described, cooperating pressing members each having. a centralpressing portion and aside pressing portion extending at a an anglethereto, one of a the members being providedwith a cover member or.flexible bag enclosing the side portion -..thereof and expansible byfluid pressure against the coacting side portion of theother member whenthemembers are in pressing position. The. coacting side portions are soconstructed that .the cover memher is extended by fluid pressure-meansinto a locking engagement with the coacting member so as to serve as -amaintaining meansafter the press is closed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a pair of coactingpressing members having side pressing portions'and having a part on theside portion of one member adapted to lockingly engagea part-on the sideportion of the other-member, together *with means actuated automaticallyupon movement of themembers into pressure engagement for locking-1yengaging the parts.

Other objects and advantages-of my invention, includingmeans foropening-and.- closing the'press and control mechanism therefor; willappear from the following description-whentaken with the drawing, inwhich Fig. 1 is a side elevationpartly insection and partlydiagrammatic, showing a pressing *machine embodying my invention; theparts are shown in press open position in full lines, and with the partsinpressingpositi'on but before the bag member is inflated in dotdashlines; F-ig.'2 is an-ehlarged fragmental sectional-'view-of the head-andbed, showing the "bag member inflated to produce ironing pressure; whileFig. 3 -is an enlarged fragmented viewof certain of the valvemechanismin-Fig 1, showing the parts in operated position.

-I- have illustrated my invention as applied to a press of the scissorstype comprising-a frame -10 on which is mounted a pedestal 31 H carryinga bed member [2. An upstariding bracket on the frame pivotally supportsahead lever I4 on which is mounted a head member l5 adapted to coactwith the bed l2. The head lever and therefore the head member itself ismoved into pressing position, which is the position indicated indot-dash lines in Fig. 1, by means of toggles l6 and Il in operativeposition between the frame and the rear end of the head lever.

For moving the toggles toward straightened position, I have provided acylinder and piston motor l8 pivotally mounted onthe frame by trunnionsI9 and which is provided with a piston 23 connected by means of a pistonrod 2| with the toggle mechanism. For the control of pressure fluid flowto and from the motor, I have illustrated a conventional two-handcontrol mechanism comprising a normally closed intake valve 22 and acombined normally closed intake valve 23 and normally open exhaust valve24. These latter valves are mounted on a common stem- 25 operable bycontrol member 26, and valve 22 is likewise operable by a control member21. Pressure fluid is supplied upon depression of both control membersby way of conduit 28, valve 22, conduit 29, valve 23 and conduit 30 tothe forward end of the motor cylinder. This moves piston20 rearwardly,which in turn straightens the toggle mechanism to the dotdash positionof Fig. 1 where the pressing members are in position to coact uponinflation of the cover member of the bed.

The bed construction is bestseen in Fig. 2 wherein the bed comprises acentral portion 31 having depending side portions 32 extending at anangle to the central portion. A flexible cover member or bag 33 enclosesthe central and side portions of the bed and has a fluid-tightconnection therewith, that illustrated comprising a bar 34 secured tothe bed casting by screws 35. The

cover or bag member thus forms a fluid-tight chamber 36 completelysurrounding the press ing surfaces of the bed member. The cover member33 is of a slightly expansib'le or eXtensible material substantiallyimpervious to the operating fluid and preferably formed of plies ofimpregnated fabric.

The head member comprises a central portion 3'! and downwardly extendingside portions 38 which are adapted to coact with the side pressingportions of the bed member so as to cause a pressing action at asubstantial angle to the pressing action provided between the centralportions 3| and 31.

After the pressing members reach the dot-dash position of Fig. l,meansis provided for supplying fluid under pressure to the chamber 36 soas to expand the bag or cover member 33 for causing the ironing orpressing action between the coacting members. The means illustratedcomprises mechanism actuated automatically upon movement of the pressingmembers into their pressing position. As illustrated, a valve casing 39is mounted on the frame and encloses a normally closed inlet valve 4|!and a normally open exhaust valve 4| which are maintained in theirnormal position by a spring 42. Pressure fluid inlet to the valve casingis by way of conduit 43 and exhaust therefrom is by way of conduit 44. Acommon inlet and exhaust conduit 45 communicates between the valvecasing and chamber 36 of the bed. Valves 4!! and 4| are mounted on acommon stem 43 which is operable by a bell crank lever 47 which has aconnection with the operating mechanism of the press so that valves 43and 4| may be operated automatically upon movement of the pressingmembers to their pressing position. The connection illustrated comprisesa link 48 pivotally mounted on toggle member l1 and adapted to contactthe vertical arm of lever 47 just before the parts reach the dot-dashposition of Fig. 1. The link is adapted to yieldingly operate the lever41 by mounting on the end of the link a spring 49 held thereon byadjustable retaining means 50.

The operation of this portion of the mechanism is as follows: Valve 40being normally closed and valve 4| open, the pressure chamber 33 isnormally in exhausted or slack condition by way of conduit 45, valve 4|and conduit 44 communicating with the atmosphere. Upon movement of theparts to the dot-dash position of Fig. 1, valve 4| is closed, valve 4!]is opened and pressure fluid is supplied to the pressure chamber 36which distends the cover member 33 to the position of Fig. 2. At theclose of a pressing operation, bell crank lever 4! is oscillated in acounterclockwise direction against the yielding spring 49 by operatoroperated means comprising a pedal 5| pivoted to the frame and connectedby link 52, bell crank 53 and link 54 with the bell crank lever 41.Pressure on pedal 5| moves lever 41 to the full line position of Fig. l,which permits spring 42 to return the valves to their normal position,thus exhausting the pressure chamber 36.

The pressing members are so constructed that upon their movement intofinal pressure engagement a part of the side pressing portion of onemember so enters a part of the side pressing portion of the other memberas to lock the members in their engaged position. This arrangementpermits the operator to release the control members 26 and 21 as soon asthe press is completely closed and in pressure engagement. In thearrangement illustrated, the depending side portions 38 of the head areinclined toward the longitudinal vertical medial plane of the bed, sothat when the cover member 33 is distended a portion of the cover memberextends into looking engagement with the side portion of the othermember. As seen in Fig. 2, the distance between the lowermost portionsof opposed side portions 38 on the head is sufiicient to permit the headto move downwardly and enclose the bed when the cover 33 is deflated.But the said distance is less than the overall dimension of the bed andcover when the latter is distended. A spring 55 connected between therear end of the head lever and the frame normally tends to open thepress, but is ineffective to do so when the cover is distended intolocking engagement with the side pressing portions of the head.

Thus, when final pressure has been applied by distending the cover,following actuation of the valves in casing 39, the parts will remain inthat position until the operator depresses lever 5|. Therefore theoperator is free to release control members 25 and 21 as soon as thepress is closed, whereupon pressure fluid is exhausted from motor I8through conduit 39 and exhaust valve 34.

It is apparent that the control valves for cover inflation, onceoperated into cover-distending position, are self-maintained in thatposition until pressure is applied to lever 5|, and this maintainingaction is entirely independent of the motor I8.

What I claim is:

1. In a press of the class described, the combination of a pair ofcoacting head and bed pressing members each having a central pressingportion and depending side pressing portions, means for causing relativeapproach of said members into pressing position, the depending sidepressing portions of said head member being inclined toward thelongitudinal vertical medial plane of said bed member, a flexible covermember secured to said bed member and enclosing said side pressingportions thereof, and fluid pressure means operable when said pressingmembers are in pressing position to distend said cover member intoengagement with the side pressing portions of said head member, wherebywhen said cover member is distended the pressing members will be lockedtogether.

2. In a press of the class described, the combination of a pair ofcoacting pressing members each having a central pressing portion anddepending side pressing portions, a flexible cover member forming afluid-tight casing enclosing the side portions of one of said members,means for causing relative approach of said members into pressingposition, fluid pressure means operable when said pressing members arein pressing position to distend said cover member into engagement withthe side pressing portions of the other member, means tending at alltimes to separate said pressing members and to open the press, and saiddistended cover member and said engaged side pressing portions of thecoacting pressing member interlocking to prevent operation of saidpress-opening means.

3. In a press of the class described, the combination of a pair ofcoacting pressing members each having a central pressing portion and aside pressing portion extending at an angle thereto, means for causingrelative approach of said members into pressing position, means tend ingto separate said members, a cover member enclosing the side portion ofone of said members, fluid pressure means operable when the pressingmembers are in pressing position to distend said cover member intoengagement with the side portion of the coacting pressing member, andportions of said cover member in distended position extending into theside portion of said last-named coacting pressing member.

4. In a press of the class described, the combination of a pair ofcoacting pressing members, each having a central pressing portion and aside portion extending at an angle thereto, means for causing relativeapproach and pressure engagement between said members, and fluidpressure actuated means on the side portion of one member and adapted tolockingly enter into the side portion of the other member when themembers are in pressing position, to prevent disengagement of saidmembers.

5. In a press of the class described, the combination of a pair ofcoacting pressing members each having a central pressing portion and aside portion extending at an angle thereto, means for causing relativeapproach and pressure engagement between said members, a part on theside portion of one member adapted to lockingly enter into the sideportion of the other member to prevent disengagement of said members,and means actuated automatically upon movement of said members intopressure engagement for lockingly engaging said parts.

6. In a press of the class described, the combination of a pair ofcoacting pressing members one of which is movable into and out ofposition adjacent the other, one of said members having a flexible coversubstantially enclosing the pressing surface thereof in a fluid-tightconstruction, fluid pressure means operable when said pressing membersare in adjacent position to distend said cover away from its associatedmember,

means for moving said movable member to place said members in adjacentposition, and means independent of said last-named means for lockingsaid members in said position.

7. In a press of the class described, the combination of a pair ofcoacting pressing members one of which is movable into and out ofposition adjacent the other, means for so moving the movable member, oneof said members having a flexible cover substantially enclosing thepressing surface thereof to form a fluid-tight chamber, fluid pressuremeans operable when said pressing members are in adjacent position todistend said cover into engagement with the coacting member, controlmeans for said fluid pressure means and operable in cover-distendingdirection when said members move into adjacent position, and saiddistended cover member having parts distended into interlocking relationwith the coacting pressing member for preventing disengagement of saidpressing members.

GEORGE W. JOHNSON.

